A lot had happened during the week that Q was in her cryogenic state. Not that she was aware of that. Of what the country of Wakanda went through after she had gone under the ice. How a dead Klaue was delivered to their doorstep, setting off an intense chain of events. No; she woke up to peace and warmth, and with three curious children staring down at her.
"What the fuck?" she slurred out as her brows immediately furrowed at the almost horrifying sight of children in face paint staring down at her. Her reaction caused a ripple of giggles to erupt from the children - which made it all the more terrifying. Shifting as much as she could, she tried to push herself away from them, but still they followed. Smiles on their faces, eyes bright with interest, she knew they weren't there to harm her, but it still did nothing to relieve her uneasiness. There was a noise sounding like a flap being pushed aside that was enough to get the children's attention.
"I told you what would happen if I caught you in here again," a familiar voice filled the hut. Though the threat was clear, it was apparent that it was pretty empty. There was no malice or anger behind the words. The children shrieked in surprise then scattered away from her. All tangling up in each other as they tried to push past each other in an effort to get out first, while their giggles followed them.
"This is the third time I've caught them in here since I woke up." Bucky sounded almost amused by something that terrified Q a bit - being watched while she slept, "They watched me too." he glanced at her, sensing her fear, "I think they're just curious." he moved around the hut like he knew where things were. A bucket in the corner that he filled a small bowl with before turning to pass it off to her. A small chair that he could sit in across from her, one that looked worn in as if someone had been sitting there before.
Finally sitting up, she took the bowl from him to cup in her hands and bring to her lips. The water was cold against her chapped lips and, while she wasn't usually one to drink water, she couldn't help but gulp it down. She didn't know how long it had been since she had some sort of liquid in her body.
"How are you feeling?" If she had had a brief lapse in memory, his question brought her back rather quickly. The chamber, the coldness of the nitrogen seeping into her body, and the brief darkness of her unconscious state before the dreams took over. All to help Bucky.
While she knew she was supposed to be doing a self-assessment, she couldn't help but do a once over on Bucky. She knew from the moment he spoke that something was different; the tone of his voice was more casual, less burdened or careful. Seeing him only confirmed that Shuri had done what she promised. He was sitting on the makeshift chair in a blue tunic with a green scarf-like piece of fabric tied over his chest and covering his left shoulder completely. The position was comfortable, gaze still focused on her but it was softer than before. No longer was he on alert for any sort of threat to appear. His hair was tied back in a man-bun and his facial hair had grown out even more. She might not have known him as the Bucky Barnes he was, but she figured this was the closest she would ever get.
Shifting her focus onto herself, she tried to answer his question. Half of her was expecting to wake up with a pounding headache - something to tell her that work had been done. That she was cured. Yet, she felt almost the same as she had when she went into the ice. Just a little more well-rested. It had been the first time in a long time that she had gotten a peaceful night's sleep. There were vague fragments of dreams, but they felt like memories. Or feelings.
"Lighter." she settled on her answer, finding the right word. There may not have been a pounding headache, but there was space in her head that had been previously rented out by Hydra and whatever they had put in there. There had been a weight she hadn't realized that was pressing down on her head. until it was gone. Bucky nodded somberly, letting her know that his reaction was similar.
"That means it worked." he assured her even though it wasn't necessary. Shuri was adamant that it would. She was just grateful that Shuri thought she was worthy of testing out the algorithm. Thought she deserved to be quasi-normal again too. "C'mon," he got up from his chair, "the princess will want to know you're awake." For some reason, her heart rate spiked at the mention of seeing Shuri again. Maybe because she was nervous about the length of time that had passed. How long had it been since she went into the chamber? Days? Weeks? Years? Now she could understand how Steve felt when he woke up seventy odd years after the Valkyrie crashed into the ice: uneasy and unsettled.
Still, it was comforting to have Bucky around. A familiar, friendly face who obviously watched over her for however long he had to. He held the flap of the hut open for her, allowing her to duck down to exit the hut and embrace the Wakandan sunshine for the first time since she had gone in the chamber. The sun was warm against her skin as she looked across the water of wherever they were. Clearly outside of the city considering she could only hear the chirping of birds and the soft rustling of the leaves in the wind. The children she had woken up to played with each other by one of the other huts. It was peaceful.
"Where are we?" she stared out across the water at the horizon.
"The Amari village. Outside the city." he told her with a ghost of a smile, "They're a healing tribe." Although she had never heard of the village before, it was comforting to know that she was somewhere that was meant to help her. "The princess did all she could from a medical standpoint. The rest was up to us." he sounded like he was repeating something that had been said to him. She wondered what he meant by that. Vaguely, she remembered drifting in and out of consciousness though it was more of a feeling than a memory. Just like the dreams, "The kids made bets on which one of us would wake up first." he nodded in the direction of where the children played. They watched them as they played some sort of made up game. There was an amused smile on his face, then he nudged her with his elbow, "The princess won't like it if we keep her waiting." There was an easiness that surrounded him which she hadn't seen before, but it felt natural when she did.
"How long has it been?" she carefully asked, already nervous of the answer. Bucky glanced at her as they got to a waiting truck. There was no driver, but for some reason that didn't concern her.
"A little over two weeks for me. Only about one for you." Relief flooded her system at the straight answer. A week wasn't too bad. That was manageable. Much better than the twelve days she had been subjected to at the Hydra base.
"And you?" she asked after Bucky helped her into the truck, "How are you feeling?" she could tell he was better, but she just needed the confirmation. Needed to know that she had done something good for once. The right thing.
"Like you said: lighter." he settled in beside her. The truck rumbled to life and started off down the dirt path, away from the village and toward the city. As it did, she took a glance behind her to get one last look at the village, "It took a second for things to come back to me. Words, meaning, memories…" he let it hang in the air for a moment, allowing her to understand that he remembered everything, "but there's not the...pain anymore. I don't feel Him." The meaning behind the word was clear. No longer did he feel the Soldier lingering behind him, just waiting for the right moment to strike. To take over. There was no more pain, and no more fear. He was free. They both were.
"That's really good to hear, Bucky." Her throat began to tighten with emotion. For so long, he had tried to move past what had happened to him, but that day in Berlin was a simple, terrible reminder of how that wasn't possible for him. And it never would be, until that moment.
"Thank you, Q." he turned to look at her with soft gratitude, "The princess told me what you did." he referenced her decision to go into the chamber to help Bucky, "You didn't have to do that for me." her eyes began to water and she reached over to grab his hand, squeezing it tightly.
"I wanted to." she corrected him, assured him that it was her choice, "You deserve your happy ending." she gave him a watery smile, and he returned it with a small smile of his own.
"Thank you." he repeated himself, at a loss of what else to say.
Arriving back at the palace, the two of them were led to the medical bay. The familiarity of the wing brought her some comfort. Not much could change in a week after all. At first there was no sign of the princess, but her arrival was announced by herself mere moments later.
"There you are! I thought I told them to bring you to my lab." she tsked, annoyed with whoever the them was referring to. A smile broke out across Q's face at the sight of the teenager. Especially considering she was still a teenager and not a full grown adult. A week really had passed. She was still a semi-annoyed girl with a braided crown resting on top of the smaller braids that fell down her back. But the annoyance faded rather quickly when she saw who was standing in front of her with Bucky. Having already seen and dealt with Bucky, her happy expression was directed at Q. "How are you feeling?" she asked, then continued without allowing Q a second to respond, "Any headaches? Aches? Nausea? Tingling? Numbness? Does anything hurt?" she fired off her questions in rapid succession. Where Q could hear Bucky restrain a low groan - having gone through the same process a few days earlier, she couldn't help but laugh a bit.
"I'm okay, Shuri." she held her hands up in defense, shaking her head, "I feel more myself than I've felt in a long time." she admitted, finding it to be true. She let out a breath of relief, finally exhaling and releasing all the pain that had such a grip on her for the past year.
She could tell that her senses were still as heightened and sharp as they had been when she had first recovered from her time in Hydra, but there was no longer the constant static in her head. The kind that happened while her brain was trying to figure out all the plausible outcomes of the situation she was in. If she wanted to, if she focused, she could find the outcomes again. But there wasn't an overwhelming pain that came with it, nor did she want to figure everything out. At least not right now; you could only predict so much in life - sometimes you just had to let it do its thing. And it hadn't helped her out before; every time she was close to figuring something out, it was either too late or not enough. She just wanted to be normal again.
"Good. That is good." Shuri gave her a bright, proud smile, hesitating for a moment before throwing her arms around the older woman. Not expecting the gesture, Q fell back on one foot to steady herself, then wrapped her arms around the smaller girl.
"Thank you, Shuri. Thank you very much." she murmured without getting too choked up. There had been a lot of emotions flowing since she had woken up. A beat passed, then Shuri released her from her hold. She watched her shift back into her professional manner, straightening up a bit.
As she did, the air in the room shifted enough for both Bucky and Q to take notice. It wasn't long until they figured out why: T'Challa had entered the bay, flocked by two guards - one being the woman in red from South Korea. An easy smile spread across his face at the sight of the two of them, hands clasping in front of him.
"Has my sister made you wish you were still in the chambers?" he asked lightly, getting an eye roll from Shuri.
"I am just making sure all my bases are covered." her annoyed tone was paired with a slight tilt of her head, "Need to make sure my patients are making a full recovery." she said matter of factly as she elbowed her brother out of the way, "Speaking of," her gaze turned to Bucky, "I need to make sure your shoulder is still healing properly." he nodded at her instruction before allowing her to tug him away. Q watched with slight amusement as Bucky was manhandled by the teenager who was smaller than him.
"Glad to see you are feeling better," T'Challa's comment got her attention. She gave the king a soft smile.
"All thanks to your sister." she reminded him, making him smile proudly. He turned a bit, silently indicating for her to fall into step beside him, which she did. The woman from South Korea gave her a nod in greeting and she returned it as she stepped by her.
"Deputy Ross has made a full recovery as well." T'Challa continued, reminding her of what had been going on when she chose to go into the chamber, "And Klaue has paid for his actions." the tone his voice took on made it clear that he didn't mean Klaue was just in a jail somewhere. She studied his profile for a moment, sensing that something more had happened. When their eyes met, she raised her brows ever so slightly. She wanted to know what else had happened; she was certain Klaue's death wasn't as simple as T'Challa was making it out to be.
The two stood by a wide bay window, looking across the city. Slowly, T'Challa began to fill her in on the events that went on while she was in the cryo chamber. The delivery of Klaue's dead body by his cousin. The same man who had broken Klaue out of the CIA black site. The man had been hidden away from the world of Wakanda after T'Chaka had killed the boy's father - his own brother, after discovering he was working with Klaue to sell vibranium to other parties outside of Wakanda. And his son had returned to lay claim to the throne.
Listening quietly, T'Challa continued to detail what happened over the course of the next few days. How he had been defeated by his cousin and thought to be dead for twenty-four hours. In reality, an ice fisherman from the Jabari tribe had inadvertently saved him. It was only thanks to their kindness, Nakia's skillfulness, and his mother's determination was he standing beside Q.
"Sounds like you had a rough couple of weeks." she summed up after he finished his story. Added with what happened in Vienna, T'Challa had gone through a lot. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips, but he didn't look at her.
"You could say that, yes." he sounded slightly amused at her reaction to what had happened over the couple of days previous. "But it has put things into perspective."
"Like what?" she turned her torso a bit so she could look at him fully. He responded in kind, matching her position.
"Wakanda can no longer hide in the shadows. It was selfish of us to do so in the first place. Sit by while the world was suffering and needed help we could have provided." his explanation began to shift into a politician's speech. One that she didn't need to hear; she didn't need convincing of it.
"You finally listened to Nakia, huh?" she teased him a bit, hearing a small, amused sound from behind her. A quick glance over her shoulder proved it to have come from the woman in red who shared a knowing look with her. When she turned back to T'Challa, there was a bashful smile on his face.
"Something of the sort." he agreed with a nod, "Still, we're planning on announcing this decision to the United Nations in a few days." he continued on with the plan of action, "You are more than welcome to come along if you like and return home from there." he tilted his chin down at her, pausing for a moment before adding, "Or, if you decide not to join us, you are welcome to stay here in Wakanda for as long as you like." he gave her a warm smile that told her this was her decision and the offer on the table was one between friends. She wondered why he was allowing her to stay in Wakanda, but figured it was better not to look a gifted horse in the mouth.
"Thank you, T'Challa." she nodded slightly, "I appreciate your offer. I'll need some time to think about it." she deflected, not wanting to make too rash of a decision too quickly. Truth be told, for once in her life, she hadn't thought about what would come next. What she would do after she had come out of cryo. She hadn't expected that much change to occur, or for her to feel as she did. While she knew she should go back to the CIA and Ross, a part of her wondered if she should stay in Wakanda with Bucky.
"Of course, Q." he understood why she was hesitating. Reaching into his pocket, he produced a bracelet similar to the one on his wrist, "I have set up a small cottage, outside the city limits, for the both of you to share until you decide what you want to do next. This will direct you there, and help with whatever you need to find." he explained as Q slipped her bracelet over her wrist. The beads were cool against her skin and vibrated softly - much like the two bands Dawson had given her to distract her mind whenever she needed it.
"Will I ever stop thanking you?" The question was rhetorical, and not as exasperated as one might think. T'Challa and his family had done nothing but help her, over and over again with absolutely zero underlying motives or want of anything in return.
"I'm sure the time will come where I will be the one thanking you." he assured her, though both of them knew that probably wouldn't happen any time soon. The two of them shared a smile before he reached out to pat her shoulder, then stepped away.
Leaving her with her thoughts, and a decision to make.
A/N: She's all better! Or at least, doesn't have to worry about turning into a mind controlled Hydra asset. What are your thoughts? Theories? Let me know what you think will happen next!
Hope everyone is holding up and staying sane in quarantine. Hopefully these chapters are helping ease some pain and worries. And a Happy Easter to all those that celebrate!